Kaduna empower grassroots women with N200m

From: Femi Oyelola, Kaduna

Kaduna State Women Empowered Programme (KADSWEP) is to support women at the grassroots in their entrepreneurial activities with N200m.
The state Commissioner for Human Services and Social Development,Hajiya Hafsat Baba, disclosed this while speaking to the media in kaduna yesterday
According to her the empowerment program was established in 2017, and specifically designed to improve financial inclusion and provide women access to low-interest loans to begin new or expand existing business.
She explained that the ministry was working on the guidelines and modalities for the disbursement of the money to new beneficiaries.
The commissioner added that the state was working with the Central Bank of Nigeria to deepen financial inclusion among women, adding that about 14,000 women have recently opened bank accounts.
“We will use Bank Verification Number to screen existing beneficiaries out so that others can benefit,” she said.
The commissioner said that over 7,000 women benefited from the programme in 2019, noting that individual received N20,000 while association of 10 members got N200,000.
She said that while others have paid back, the ministry was working with the remaining beneficiaries to pay back the soft loan to provide opportunities for others to benefit.